We had our weekly meeting last night. We didn't have it last week because we were out of town but there wasn't any extra to catch up on. We've been doing this long enough that the mechanics really flow smoothly.
Tia has added an extra part to what we do now. She's been doing it for the last month and I don't know if I have mentioned it here before.
When we get together, we look over how we spent our money for the last week to see if there is anything that we want to improve on. We've gotten to the point now where that is very rare. We have built up the discipline that we spend money where we intend to spend money.
We review our goals and the dates that we have set. Every couple weeks, there's a bit of tweaking that needs to be done. Some goals are moved closer, some are moved back.
I go over our current balances and how they compare to each other. That's the sliding back part in the subject line. Our money versus debt went backwards a bit this time. Our debt went down but our money went down more.
The fact that our debt went down is what's important but I like to track the difference.
We spent money on our trip so that was money that went out but not against our debt. My 401k is tied to the stock market and I own a few stocks. Both of those went down (even though they promised me the housing fiasco wouldn't affect the economy - damn them!).
After that, my wife shows me her plan for how we are going to spend our money for the rest of the month. I give my input but at this point, we are on the same wavelength so it's more a matter of just keeping me in the loop.
We are going to start setting money aside each week for items on our wish list. We have set a minimum that we will continue to pay toward our debt so that we can reach our goals. Anything left over goes to the next item on the list. The first item on the list is a computer. It's time. As much as I'm going to hate to part with my TRS 80, it's time.
Actually, I won't be parting with it. I'm going to disconnect it from the internet and let Trey use it for his Hooked on Phonics and anything else that we get for him.
Any extra money that I can bring in will accelerate the purchase of Wish List items. Tomorrow, I start my babysitting gig so that is going to help on that front.
It's a system that really works well for us and I highly recommend that you use some kind of system for yourself. You can develop your own, you can use mine, or there are probably hundreds of other variations out there. The bottom line is that you have to know where you are and what you want to achieve if you want to be in control of your money.